Winter is an etching, spring a watercolour, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.

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I Do Not Own Inuyasha

"Talking"

Chapter 1

I stared blankly ahead as the snow whipped across the landscape. The moon shone brightly through the dark clouds over head, illuminating the silver crystals that covered the over-grown meadow. The wind howled, and my horse whinnied in protest as I forced her forward. She didn't want to go, the snow was cold under her hoofs but she was the only way of travel for now.

The wind blew the hood from my head and my silver hair whirled around my body, blocking my view of the surroundings. The cold didn't bother me. It was the wind, the stupid wind that blocked the sounds of a cold winter night....that muted the sounds of danger. A giant feather, carrying a woman came down from the sky and shrunk down to it's normal size as the woman's bare feet touched the icy ground.

"Evening, Setsuna." She greeted me, placing the feather into her hair. "It's quite a storm you're concocting here...despite the fact you hate the wind."

"I only hate it because it's your speciality, Kagura." I replied. The smirk on her face disappeared and she cast a icy gaze upon me. I looked away from her and stared into the forest. "But those humans deserve a harsh winter storm. They've seem to have forgotten of my powers...Time to remind them."

"Heartless and cold as always." She murmured.

I turned my gaze back to her, and forced the mare forward. "I'd be careful if I were you, Kagura. One day you might not be able to speak and act as freely as you do now."

"And what makes you so sure." Kagura asked as I passed her.

"I know more about the future then you may think. Just take it as a warning and think before you go running after power as you do. You may find yourself in a situation were you have no control over yourself." She disappeared behind me as I continued further into my storm and I could no longer detect the slightest trace that she was near. I hoped she enjoyed the curse I just placed on her, it might keep her out of my hair for a hundred years or so.

I continued wandering through the storm for another hour. My life was uneventful...but it was a constant quest for power, recondition and respect. Anyone who met me and didn't respect me would die. They had to. I couldn't live if I knew someone would be constantly talking about behind my back, especially if they were anything but youkai. It wasn't until I spotted something dark in the snow ahead did I stop. I steered my horse toward it coming to a stop when I was beside it.

A girl. A human girl...fallen victim to my storm. I got off the horse and bent over her lifeless form. A young miko in training...10...11 years old tops. I took off my hooded travelling cape, and draped the white fabric over the girl. I didn't let children die in my storms, if it were a adult human then I wouldn't care, but children were helpless. I wasn't that cold.

"Kikyou! Kikyou!" A woman's voice echoed across the meadow, joined by the rough voices of village men, and glowing crimson orbs from their torches. They came upon me faster then I had expected....the wind having blocked out most sound...and the snow blocking out my vision. A woman appeared feet from me, looking as a older version of the child below.

"Kikyou!" She gasped. Her worried eyes flickered to the girl, then to me. Her expression became angry and worried, and I got to my feet. "Stay away from my daughter, filthy demon!" She shouted, as the sounds of the village men came closer.

I climbed back onto the mare, and stared down at her. "Gladly, pathetic human." I replied, turning away and disappearing into the storm. The humans would realize in a few hours that I'd saved that child from death, and they'd come looking for me afterwards. I couldn't let that happen. I didn't want thanks from a pathetic human, their praise wasn't worth anything to me.

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I opened my eyes to the blinding sunshine above, and stared up at the blue winter sky. It wasn't a perfect sky; still cluttered with the clouds from last nights storm, but it was still a beautiful morning nonetheless. I jumped out from the bare tree and landed in the snow beside the mare. She was digging through the snow looking for grass. I'd never thought to give her a name -despite the fact that she had lived through twenty of my harsh winter storms since I had stolen her from the village stables- but she didn't need a name, and a name would just be another insignificant thing to remember, so I'd never bothered.

I untied her from the tree, and let her walk around the clearing. She wouldn't run away, she was a cowardly horse, and she felt safe with me. I wandered through the forest alone, until I stumbled across a small crystal clear stream. I washed my face with the ice cold water, and ran my wet fingers through my tangled hair before getting to my feet and turning to head back.

But a silvered haired man in a red kimono stood in my way.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I asked the stranger, taking all emotion from my voice. I wasn't in the mood for conversation.

"That's my line." He growled, flexing his claws. This boy smelt of human and inu youkai. A inu hanyou then. Pathetic creatures.

"You're pretty arrogant for a hanyou." I said, content with his aggression, but annoyed with his lack of respect. He growled and ran at me, his claws missing me by inches as I jumped back, easily dodging his weak attack. I landed on the other side of him, and turned to face the irreverent half-demon. "Too slow."

He turned around, and the corners of his lips turned upwards in a smirk. "Why don't you look at yourself before you assume I missed, youkai."

My eyes narrowed as I looked at him, and I felt something warm and thick trickle down my leg. I lifted my hand to my stomach, keeping my eyes on the boy, and felt the blood soaking through the white silk of my dress. Damn it. I underestimated him.

"You'll pay for that." I hissed. Glowing pale blue orbs formed around my hands, and the temperature of the air around us dropped dramatically. I'll freeze the tainted blood coursing through his veins.

His expression became hard, and he ran forward again. "Is that the best you can do!? Sankon Testusou!"

This time I did manage to dodge and get away without being injured. "Idiot." I leaped into the air, and shot ice daggers at him from my palms. He cursed under his breath and covered his face with his sleeve. The daggers weren't cutting through the material like they should...My feet touched the ground, and I sprinted toward him, pinning him to a tree by his neck.

He growled again, and dug his claws into my arm, but I couldn't feel pain, so it was useless. I felt him shiver under my hands, and my ice formed around his body and the tree, locking him in place. I yanked my arm away, and he struggled to break through the ice. His struggles were futile, the ice would stay strong for 16 hours. I turned away from him and continued to walk through the trees.

"What!? You're not going to finish me off!?" He shouted. I turned half-way and cast my icy gaze upon him.

"I don't have time to bother with such filthy vermin." I replied simply, turning my back to him.

"What makes you think that when I break free I won't come after you!?" He called.

"By the time you break free, it'll be night. You won't find me."

He disappeared behind me, and in a few moments I came to the clearing with my mare. She trotted closer, and I lifted myself onto her back. I had underestimated him before, this could be another one of those times. I forced her into a gallop and ran aimlessly through the forest.

That had been the first time someone picked a fight with me. I wasn't worried about it, it was only a arrogant hanyou who didn't know his place after all, but it was new to me. Why would anyone pick a fight with me? It was just simply suicidal.

The mare stopped abruptly and whinnied, rising onto her back legs. Now what was wrong?

Kagura stood in front of the mare, glaring at me.

"Oh. It's you." I said, trying to get the mare to calm down.

"You cursed me last night didn't you?" She growled.

"Was does it matter? If I had cursed you or not you still would one day be in a situation where you had no control." I replied. "How did you find me?"

She laughed and pointed in the direction I had come. "You're leaving behind a trail of blood. What did you do now? Claim that you were superior to some youkai and he tried to kill you?"

"No. A hanyou got in my way."

"Hmm, a hanyou inflicted such injuries to you? You must be weakening in power..."

"Shut up, Kagura. If you weren't my sister I'd kill you." I hissed. We were sisters, but only because we were elemental demons. We had no real parents...we were just created from the world around us, and lived as the superior being, other elementals part of our family. It was lonely....for there were ever only four elemental youkai at one time. Fire, earth, water, and air. When one of us died, a new youkai from our element would be created and that would be it. No mother...no father....just four siblings, who never got along.

End Of Chapter 1

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